Markets | 14/10/2014 | Uncertain start to the day's trade in Europe with yesterday's sell-off on Wall Street

It's been something of an uncertain start to the day's trade in Europe with yesterday's sell-off on Wall Street serving up a choppy open, but there does seem to be a concerted effort underway by some to pick up a few bargains. The big test however is likely to be the German ZEW economic sentiment survey that's due for release shortly - given the degenerating geopolitical situation and the fact that the Eurozone is on the brink of tumbling into another full blown recession, it would be no surprise at all if this number served up another blow for market sentiment.

Asian markets were relatively quiet although the stand out was the Nikkei, slumping by over 2% at the close as local traders played catch up, given the Tokyo exchange had been closed for a holiday on Monday. That said, all regional markets finished the day somewhat lower although the fact that there's been no backlash in Hong Kong as police dismantle the barricades of protestors is worthy of note, although the situation could easily deteriorate once again.

Looking ahead to Wall Street, after that concentrated bout of selling just ahead of the close last night there's an expectation that we'll see a modest rebound at the open. By all accounts however there's little to suggest that the overall mood of skepticism has changed for the better and with no meaningful economic data set for release today, shaking off the downside bias won't be easy. Ahead of the open we're calling the Dow up 46 at 16367 and the S&P up 5 at 1880.